By Patrick Brogan
Investment in U.S. broadband networks continued to slide in 2016, continuing a trend that began two years ago after the Federal Communications Commission reclassified broadband providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. U.S. broadband providers invested approximately $76 billion in capital expenditures on network infrastructure in 2016, down from approximately $77.9 billion in 2015, according to USTelecom’s seventh annual broadband investment research report released today.
Annual spending was $2.4 billion less in 2016 than at the recent peak of $78.4 billion in 2014, according to the analysis. Overall, from 1996 through 2016, the broadband industry has made capital investments totaling $1.6 trillion.
USTelecom’s data series stretches back 21 years, including years of growth and some declines as broadband providers – from wireline and wireless to cable companies – have invested in maintaining, improving or expanding their U.S. networks. Because USTelecom’s analysis attempts to consistently measure infrastructure spending from year to year, it adjusts for many factors that affect companies’ capital investment reporting, including mergers, divestments, accounting practices, and allocations among business units. (Please see the report’s methodology for more details on how the figures were calculated.)